Please support this project - EXPRESSING DISORDER

Create Your Recovery supports all other advocates and those working towards our common goal of eliminating eating disorders and helping those who suffer with eating disorders. We're all in this together and by joining hands and supporting all {ED} advocates we can do this and accomplish what we are passionately trying to do.

I've been in touch with David Alavardo who is a film maker and currently producing a documentary on eating disorders. As a filmmaker, David identified with the creative process of expressing one's thoughts and feelings as a means of personal healing, and he became intrigued when he discovered that expressive arts therapies existed. Over time, as he filmed the stories of women with eating disorders, what began to emerge was the theme of creative expression being a powerful force in fostering recovery. The documentary is a film about hope and healing through these therapies.
This is an example of exactly what Create Your Recovery is all about....the creative process of expressing one's thoughts and feelings as a means of personal healing. I'm so excited to of come across David and so happy to help promote his project. Please consider giving a cash donation to help support this very important project. The film needs to raise $25,000 and currently the project is at $8,635. You can read all about the film and make a donation on his website by visiting this link or by clicking on the picture.

Thank you for taking the time to visit David's site and reading through information. He has spent 3 years on this film and now the film is in the post production phase. Create Your Recovery is supporting this project in whatever we can to help David accomplish his goal of helping this film become a reality. We will keep you updated on the process so you'll be hearing a lot more about this project! Stay tuned!

Support Create Your Recovery.

Want a great tanktop for the summer for a cozy sweatshirt for fall time? Who doesn't? Then come to our cafepress shop and buy one or two. We have more than just tanktops and sweatshirts but those are our featured products right now because they are just that awesome. Plus they are our top sellers!

Below is the tanktop which will cool you off in the heat of the summer time.

and then there's the great cozy sweatshirt to cover up with when you're cold.

If you are interested in more merchandise, feel free to roam our 2 stores at CafePress.com. Our stores are called ROCK YOUR RECOVERY! Click on EACH logo below to get you to BOTH of our stores.

 Rock Your Recovery {2}

 Rock Your Recovery {1}

There are different items in each store so make sure to check out both stores. Please check back as there are items added peroidically. If you have any questions feel free to email at info@createyourrecovery.me.



New Section on the website

Hello. Just to complicate things a bit futher, I've added a new section to the website on advocating, which means another blog. You can find the advocate section under ADVOCATE on the menu. Come follow us on facebook too. Just a short little announcement to announce Advocreate (or Advocate by kelmichaels). The section has a nickname (Advocreate).

New Brochure(s)

Above, We've redesigned our "What NOT to Say to Someone With an Eating Disorder" brochure.
Below, Our latest brochure "10 MTYHS About Eating Disorders". Both are very good brochures with a lot of great information concerning eds.

Please Donate to Create Your Recovery!

The Same 5 Questions Interview

The Same 5 Questions with Activist Kelly Michaels

by Eating Disorder Activist Network on Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 4:53pm

1) What kinds of Activism do you do, and Why do you do it?
I like to motivate others to recover or keep recovering and knowing that it can be done and recovery IS possible. That the recovery life is a great life to live. I do it because I’ve been both sides and I know what richness and happiness truly comes out of living this side. I do this to help others cross the bridge to get to THIS side of recovery so they don’t have to try to do it alone. I partly do it to keep reminding myself of what it was like before recovery because it can be easily forgotten if I lose sight of it (recovery). I want to surround myself around recovery because of the goodness it has brought into my life on so many levels.

2) What is your theory of change?
Lately my message has been all about having responsibility in your recovery. That there comes a time and place in your own recovery that YOU need to take charge of your recovery and listen to yourself and put yourself in charge and be responsible for it. (www.facebook.com/RecoverEDresponsiblity). Also, that you can create YOUR recovery through creative resources as well as traditional therapy (www.createyourrecovery.me).

3) What do you have to teach other activists, what do you have to share with us?
I like anything that has to do with social media and graphic arts so anything from the creative side to get my message across gets me motivated and excited to use in spreading my message of recovery and helping those recovery from eating disorders.

4) what is something you’d like to learn from other activists?
Public speaking. Like many others I have a fear of public speaking although it is something I really want to do, I just freeze with fear and stumble over my own words. I get motivated by other activists would are able to publically speak.

5) Looking back, the first thing I remember doing as an activist was?
Standing up for my own rights in kindergarten because a girl stole my candy cane and I backed her up in the coat room and demanded she give it back to me because “THIS IS JUST WRONG”, even though I was the smallest kid in the classroom!

Hit bottom...tabloid disaster...

Oh God…I am a terrible mom…or woman…or person…or advocate. For real. I gave in to a guilty pleasure that’s part of my disease these last few weeks and have bought exactly 3 tabloids. This started with the Royal Wedding. Don’t ask me why…it just did. Makes no sense, but that’s what triggered it and it spiraled. Anyways, my 6 year old daughter and her 7 year old friend have picked up those tabloids and are looking through them right now. I’m devastated. My heart is heavy. Thank GOD, I have the tabloid about the one with the eating disorders hidden under my computer right now and YES because I am trying to hide it from them…partially because the tabloids display eating disorders only as anorexics….not as people with average weight struggling just as bad or the obese in as much pain and agony as those with bones strutting out of their hips but because these are the pictures on the front page with the word EATING DISORDER thrown across the front page in large letters. My daughter knows I go to EATING DISORDER anonymous meetings. She sees the word EATING DISORDER all over my house as I’m a patient of the Emily Program in Mpls/St. Paul for EATING DISORDERS. She’ll recognize the word on the magazine. She just graduated kindergarten and knows only so many words. It’s the reason I double folded the magazine when I took it to the park this morning when I took the girls there. I didn’t want my daughter to see those words. I’m not particularly afraid to talk to her about it, but I am NOT going to introduce this world to another little girl. Which I think I just did. By having these magazines in my own household. Enclosed in my own disease. God. I just hit bottom with this. I’m learned my lesson that I thought I had learned earlier….I promise that I am not buying anymore magazines.

I’m waiting and watching while I write this to “hear” something body image wise. I’ve hear girlie things such as, “look at this dress” or “this is so pretty”. Alright…just heard it. Apparently to a 6 year old, Kim Kardaishian is hot, while one sister is not is one is okay. I asked what makes her hot? She said, I don’t know, but she’s hot. Her 7 year old friend reminded me that my daughter is talking about the girl in the magazine is not talking about “heat as in hot” but “as in pretty”. Thank you for that information. That innocence makes me very sad that I’m contributing and exposing this world to her. To them. I’m sad at myself for backtracking with my eating disorder just “a little tiny bit”. Didn’t think it was going to hurt anyone. I don’t know what or who I could be hurting, but I know one thing for sure. There WILL be NO more magazines allowed in this  household as of tonight. When the girls go to bed, I will throw out all m y magazines and vow to the love of my daughter not to bring another one into this house again. This was a hard lesson learned. I just learned how to be responsible through my own pain. Damn. You know….I just learned the basics again…backtracking JUST A LITTLE TINY BIT gets me into a LOT of trouble. OKAY. GOT IT. I do…..I do.